A review by greenej
The Copenhagen Trilogy: Childhood / Youth / Dependency by Tove Ditlevsen

5.0

Brilliant, dark, poetic, harrowing. "Childhood is long and narrow like a coffin, and you can't get out of it on your own." Actually, she says a few pages later, "you can't get out of it, and it clings to you like a bad smell." And so we begin. A difficult miserable childhood and youth are lightened only by the joys and ambitions of writing. Then things really get wild in the final section on adulthood, as Ditlevsen enters into life-threatening addiction. Although the memoir is dark, it is so beautifully written and insightful that it lifts you up. I felt inspired, horrified, and awed by this woman's life.